


Merry Muffins

by damaged_danzy



Category: Fifth Harmony (Band)
Genre: Christmas, Cliche, F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Holidays, Romance, and ally bakes.. what a surprise, i promise dinah exists she's just too busy on snapchat to be bothered, love at first sight.. or at least like at first sight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 06:31:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8879557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damaged_danzy/pseuds/damaged_danzy
Summary: Lauren works as a Christmas elf in the mall. Camila works as a baker. One thing they have in common? 
Muffins





	

Lauren gave a silent thanks as the last kid hopped off Santa’s lap and rushed back to his parents. With Christmas so close, the mall was a haven full of parents and rambunctious kids. Lauren had had a long day of posing with Santa while she held an oversized fake candy cane next to him. She adjusted her red and white striped stockings as she took a seat on the arm of Santa’s chair.

“You can sit on my lap you know.”

Lauren rolled her eyes. The guy playing Santa was a nice guy, but not Lauren’s type at all. “I’ll pass.”

She was graciously saved from giving an awkward explanation as her friend, Normani, walked by. Lauren ran up to her and gave her a half hug. It was kind of hard due to all the bags that Normani was carrying.

“Late minute Christmas shopping?” Lauren teased.

“You can say that.”

“Let me rephrase that; late minute Christmas shopping for yourself?”

Normani gave a wink. “You know me so well.”

Lauren laughed. “You want to get something to eat? I’m starving.”

“Is Santa out here starving you? Do I need to have a word with him?”

“No, it’s just been a really long day. Luckily I have tomorrow off. I feel like I could eat a horse.”

“Please don’t.”

“I’ll try.”

“Are you going to change?” Normani asked, looking Lauren up and down.

Lauren knew she looked a little ridiculous in her elf costume. Despite posing with children, the photographers had given her a skimpy outfit. Her outfit consisted of a green crop top that had white fur around the sleeves, a red skirt with green white fur on the waist, peppermint striped color stockings, and a pair of silvery heels.

Lauren shrugged. Half the mall had already seen her naked, so who even cared. “No.”

“Okay,” Normani replied cheerfully. 

The two of them made their way through the mall. Christmas music was playing all around. The mall had a dozen Christmas trees lit up, illuminating the place with pretty lights. Lauren could faintly smell something sweet. Her stomach rumbled and she knew that she needed something quick. She quickly pulled Normani into the direction of the sweet smells and they found themselves in front of a small bakery shop.

“I’ve never see this place before,” Normani said. “And I shop a lot, so that’s saying something.”

Come to think of it, neither had Lauren. According to the sign in front, it was a bakery named Ally’s Sweet Stuff. Lauren walked in along with Normani, who put her bags on one of the small tables and sat down. 

“You’re not getting anything?” Lauren asked.

Normani shook her head no. “I’m a dancer. You know I have to watch my weight.”

Lauren rolled her eyes. “You’re beautiful Normani.”

“I know.”

Lauren laughed. She walked up to the counter and looked at all the sweets. There were cookies decorated as penguins, snowmen, reindeers, and Santa Clause. But then there were also the cupcakes with green and red icing. Lauren’s mouth was drooling. She couldn’t decide.

“Can I help you?” 

Lauren looked up. The cashier was a girl wearing an enormous red bow in her hair. She had long hair and had a kooky sort of smile that made Lauren forget what she was going to say.

“I… ugh….”

“Are you looking for something to eat?”

“Yes! That’s exactly what I was doing.” Lauren blushed as she heard Normani snickering in the background. “I can’t decide though. Everything looks so good.”

The cashier, wearing a nametag that said Camila, giggled. “I made these treats so every time someone compliments them, I just wanna dance and hug the person.”

Hug? Lauren was definitely down for that. “Do you have any recommendations?”

“Hmmmm.” Camila clapped her hands. “The banana muffins! Most people go for the Christmas sweets, but personally, I think you can never go wrong with a banana muffin. I made them just a few minutes ago, so they’re still fresh.” She smiled, showing off her pearly whites.

Lauren couldn’t say no. “That sounds great. I’ll have that.”

Camila quickly put on a pair of gloves and handed Lauren a muffin. “Would you like anything to drink?”

“A water please.”

Camila hummed as she grabbed a bottle out of the refrigerator. “Is that all? Your friend doesn’t want anything?”

“She’s picky,” Lauren chuckled. “And yes, that will be all.”

Camila rung Lauren’s food up and Lauren paid for it. 

“Thank you Camila,” Lauren said with a shy smile.

Camila smiled even wider, if possible. “You said my name right! Most people say Ca-mi-lah,” she said ecstatically.

“Well I’m not like most people,” Lauren winked. “I’m Lauren by the way.”

“It was very nice to meet you Lauren. Be sure to stop by again. I like your outfit by the way. I always wanted to be an elf when I was younger.”

Lauren suppressed a giggle. Camila seemed so sweet and naïve. “Well, I need to go. Maybe I’ll see you sometime soon.”

Camila gave a thumbs up. “That would be amazing!”

Lauren walked to the table and sat across from Normani.

“Flirty much?”

“Shut up.”

“Really Lauren, you’re usually more subtle than that.”

“Normani, please!”

“I thought you were going to crawl over the counter and lay one on her.”

Lauren scowled. Was she really that obvious? Camila either went along with her or genuinely didn’t realize that Lauren had been flirting. Sighing, Lauren took a bite out of her muffin. She almost moaned. It tasted like heaven.

“This is so good,” she said between bites. “Holy shit.”

Normani raised an eyebrow. “It can’t be that good.”

Lauren handed her a piece. “Yes, it is.”

Normani hesitantly took the piece and put it in her mouth. Her eyes instantly widened as she chewed. “Woah,” she said after swallowing. “I’m gonna need about twenty more of those.”

Lauren swallowed her last bite and nodded in agreement. “Same.”

Christmas music played softly in the background as Lauren and Normani sat in a comfortable silence. Both of them were on their phone, checking texts, sending Snaps to each other. Lauren had a nagging feeling to talk to Camila, but for some reason, she was nervous. She felt tongue-tied and scared that she wouldn’t make any sense if she tried talking.

A few minutes passed and Normani yawned. She checked the time and gasped. “Wow, it’s getting late.”

“Yeah, we probably should be going.”

Normani stood up with all her bags. “Are you gonna walk me out or talk to Miss Thang over there?”

Lauren shushed her.

“Why? She’s on her phone over there. She’s been looking at you a few times.”

“Really?!”

Normani laughed. “Excited much? I didn’t want to tell you because then you might turn around and that would just be awkward for all of us.”

“I’ll talk to her another day. Like you said, it’s getting late. I’m surprised my mom hasn’t called.” Lauren stood up and stretched. She turned around, almost hoping to see Camila looking, but the other girl was on her phone, fingers moving rapidly across the screen.

“You can talk to her tomorrow,” Normani reassured her. 

Lauren silently agreed. Other people had come in and out of the bakery, so it’s not like Camila had been free the whole time. “Let’s get going.”

They made their way through the slowly emptying mall. It was dark outside as Normani and Lauren said their goodbyes. Lauren shivered, her elf costume not providing much warmth. Miami was usually hot, but sometimes the nights in December got chillier than she liked. She climbed in her car and turned the heat on. The radio soon came on, Mariah Carey Christmas carols blasting. Lauren sang along as her car slowly started. 

She soon drove home, her mind on Camila the whole time until she closed her eyes and went to bed.

And even there, she had dreams of a giggly girl with a red bow.

\----

The next morning, Lauren was rubbing sleep out of her eyes while sitting at the kitchen table. Her parents and siblings were sitting alongside her.

“Have you thought about what you want me to make for Christmas?” Lauren’s mom, Clara, asked.

It was a tradition in their house they had had since they were little. Clara would cook whatever the kids would want, no matter how ridiculous. Once year, Lauren’s brother jokingly said that he wanted a brownie pizza sprinkled with gummy bears. And when they woke up that Christmas morning, there was a huge brownie pizza with gummy bears all over it.

As if suddenly waking up, Lauren snapped her fingers. “Banana muffins!”

“Really?” Clara asked. 

“Yes,” Lauren said, recalling the one she had yesterday.

“Okay,” Clara shrugged. “I’ll have to check your abuela’s cookbook.”

Lauren felt suddenly more excited for Christmas.

\----

As much as Lauren loved having a day off and free from the elf costume, she found herself very bored. All her friends were traveling to spend time with family. It seemed like everybody in Miami had somewhere to be but her.

She was sitting in the living room, lying on the couch, her feet dangling off the edge. Her sister had left the TV on some random show. Uninterested, Lauren looked at the Christmas tree. Seeing the big red bow on top made her think of Camila.

Camila!

Lauren sat up. She suddenly had somewhere to be.

\----  
Lauren walked up to Ally’s Sweet Shop and took a deep breath. She had no reason to be nervous. It’s not like she was about to talk to the most beautiful girl she had ever seen in her life. She walked through the open door and was relieved that it was still early and therefore relatively empty. There was an older woman sitting in the corner drinking a coffee who smiled warmly at Lauren. Lauren felt her stomach drop as she saw someone that wasn’t Camila at the register.

“Hi,” the girl at the register said brightly. She had dirty blonde hair and she seemed to be rather short. 

Lauren managed to muster up a smile. “Um,” she cleared her throat, feeling more awkward by the second. “Is Camila here or…”

The girl, whose nametag read Ally, continued smiling. “Yeah, she’s in the back getting a few things settled.”

Lauren felt relieved. “Wait you’re Ally? Is this your shop?”

“Yes! I just opened it the other week. I love it. Baking has always been my thing, so I’m really pumped about this.” She looked at Lauren with a curious expression. “Pardon me if I’m wrong, but are you Lauren?”

“Yeah, how did you know?”

Ally looked to the back before answering. “This morning Camila came in raving about some girl with green eyes who came to our shop named Lauren. She was going on and on about you.”

Lauren couldn’t believe it. “Really?”

Ally laughed. “Yes! I’ve never seen Camila that excited and that’s saying a lot. She’s so sweet.”

Lauren felt elated. “Is she coming out here soon or? I would really like to talk to her.”

“How ‘bout this? I’ll tell Camila that you’re out here and you two can talk at one of the tables. I can handle the register.”

Lauren had just met Ally, but she could tell the girl had good intentions. “I would love that. Thank you so much.”

Ally went to the back quickly. She soon came back with a very shy looking Camila. Camila had tried hiding behind Ally, which she was doing a terrible job at.

“Hi,” she said as she walked up to Lauren.

“Hi,” Lauren said back. “Do you want to sit?”

Camila nodded. They sat at the same table that Lauren sat at yesterday with Normani. “So,” Lauren started.

“Soooo,” Camila giggled. “You look different with clothes on.” 

Lauren blushed. She didn’t know what to say. Without thinking, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Your muffin tasted really good.” As soon as she heard the words come out of her mouth, she froze. 

But Camila either was unfazed or oblivious. “Thank you! They really are my favorite. I make them with lots of love.” Lauren took a deep breath. “I bet your muffin tastes really good too,” Camila said with a twinkle in her eye.

Lauren couldn’t believe it. Camila had been playing innocent this whole time. Lauren had known when someone was flirting back, but something about Camila had stumped her. She just seemed so innocent “Wouldn’t you like to know,” Lauren teased.

Camila ran a hand through her long hair. “Was that too forward? I’m sorry. I was just scared that you didn’t think I was into you yesterday. I’m usually not this blunt, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you yesterday, especially your eyes. You probably get that a lot, but it’s the truth.”

Lauren had heard compliments about her eyes her whole life, but none of them felt as good as hearing it come from Camila. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you either. It’s mostly your bow I thought of,” Lauren giggled.

Camily sheepishly pointed at the silver one that was on her headband. “Yeah, they’re kind of my thing.”

“Are you doing anything this weekend?” Lauren asked. 

“No,” Camila said. “Next week I’ll be busy. My family from Cuba is coming over for Christmas.”

Lauren couldn’t believe her luck. Besides finding the most adorable girl, Camila was also Cuban. They soon had a long conversation about Cuban traditions and food. They ventured into other topics, like music. It turns out that they both attended the same concert of The 1975.

“Wow,” Lauren said incredulously. “That’s so cool.”

“You know what would be even cooler? If you went on a date with me.”

“Hmmm. I’ll have to think about it.”

“Please,” Camila whined. She grabbed Lauren’s hand from across the table. “We can go look at Christmas lights and watch all the holiday movies at the theatre. We can go to the beach and pretend that the sand is snow. Pleaseeeeeee!”

It didn’t take much to convince Lauren. “Yes Camila, I would love that.”

Camila leaned over and gave Lauren a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you. Just come by here later. I feel bad for making Ally take over the register.”

“I totally forgot,” Lauren admitted.

Camila shrugged. “Ally’s so nice, she probably doesn’t mind. It’s just that she’s been giving me thumbs up for the last ten minutes and it’s making me feel like a little kid.”

Lauren turned around just in time to see Ally pretend to be busy inspecting the cookies. “Okay, I’ll drop by later.”

Camila stood up, walked over, and gave Lauren a hug. “Thank you,” she whispered in her ear. “Promise me that you’ll come by later.”

“I promise,” Lauren assured, holding her pinky up.

Camila wrapped her pinky around Lauren’s and they pinky hugged. “Well, I’ll get back to work now. See you soon Lauren.”

Lauren winked. She began walking out, but stopped to give Ally a quick thanks. Ally smiled and waved goodbye.

Lauren walked out of the store feeling on top of the world. It wasn’t even Christmas yet, but she had already gotten the best gift; Camila.


End file.
